Cooler Master Storm Trooper Full Tower Case Review
CM Storm Trooper Full Tower
Back in 2009 Cooler Master released the CM Storm line of cases with gamers on the go in mind. The cases had a rugged look that had form and function as well as security features for peripherals with the StormGuard system. Today we are looking at the next addition to the Storm series, the Cooler Master Storm Trooper. Sorry Star Wars fan, this case is not what you think it is.
The Storm Trooper is a full tower chassis with gamers and enthusiasts in mind. For the gamer on the go the Storm Trooper has a carry handle on the top of the case. Unlike some handles I have seen in the past the Storm Trooper handle is part of the chassis frame, and it can support up to 95lbs or 43kg. Take out the 30lbs for the case itself you are left with 65lbs for your system.
The exterior of the Storm Trooper is not what most are thinking of when they hear the name. Its all black and has rugged looks like all the Storm series cases. What is different from Storm cases thus far is the plastic portions of the case have a rubberized coating on them. To me, this is similar to the coating that is on BitFenix cases. The coating looks nice, and does protect the plastic somewhat.
To keep things cool the Storm Trooper comes with two front intake 120mm red LED fans, a top mounted 200mm fan and a rear 140mm fan. It still has room for two side 120mm fans and two bottom 120mm fans. Out of the box the front, top, and rear can be controlled by the integrated fan controller. The front 120mm LED fans can have the LEDs turned on or off via light controls on the front panel as well.
The Storm Trooper also has reconfigurable drive cages. The drive cage area is split into two groups of 4 and can be turned independently of one another to either be oriented side to side, front to back, or removed all together to make room for more 5.25 bay devices. The drive cages all have drive trays that are tool-less for 3.5 drives, but can have 2.5 drives mounted to them. There is also a secondary remote cage for just 2.5 drives on the bottom of the case that has room for 4 drives. If that wasnt enough there is an external drive dock at the top of the case for 2.5 drives.
For the enthusiast, there is the ability to have two internally mounted 240mm radiators in the Storm Trooper with NO loss in main 3.5 drive bays. If youre rocking air cooling youre covered there, as well. The Storm Trooper can support CPU coolers up to 7.3 or 186mm and video cards up to 12.7 or 322mm. Now, I have yet to see a cooler that is 7 tall; it makes me wonder what Cooler Master has cooking.
Features of the Cooler Master Storm Trooper
- The first full tower chassis with two 90 degree rotatable 4-in-3 HDD modules
- The first with an easy-to-carry handle, and hidden tool box for storing private goods
- Removable dust filters on bottom and top intakes
- A built in fan controller for cool and quiet operation
- Supports up to 13hard-drives for future upgrades
- Convenient external 2.5 HDD/SSD X-dock
- Supports high-end hardware, XL-ATX Mainboards and Quad SLI/CF with dual slot VGAs
Specifications of the Cooler Master Storm Trooper
- Model: SGC-5000-KKN1
- Available Color: All Black
- Material: Steel body, Front Mesh / Plastic bezel
- Dimension: 250 x 605.6 x 578.5 mm (9.8 x 23.8 x 22.8 in)
- Weight: 14.4 KG / 31.7 lbs
- M/B Type: Micro-ATX, ATX, XL-ATX
5.25″ - Drive Bay: 9
- 3.5″Drive Bay: 8 (converted from 5.25 bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)
- 2.5″ Drive Bay: 13 (converted from 5.25 bay by two 4-in 3 HDD modules)
- Cooling System:
- Front: 120 mm LED fan x2 (1200 RPM, 17dBA)
- Top: 200 mm fan x 1 (1000 RPM, 23 dBA)
- Rear: 140 mm fan x1 (1200 RPM, 19 dBA) (converted to 120 mm fan)
- Bottom: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)
- Side: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)
- CPU cooler height: 186 mm / 7.3 in
- GPU card length: 322 mm / 12.7 in
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